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Houston made it three wins from three to start the season with a 30-19 result at home over the Miami Sharks on Saturday evening. It was a stop-start affair hampered by high humidity that contributed to several knock-ons. In the end the SaberCats forwards had the better of their opponents with the set piece proving the difference at the final whistle.
The Sharks found themselves under pressure when Marcos Young couldn’t handle a long kick ahead from AJ Alatimu, handing a scrum to the SaberCats. After several phases on attack the midfield defense was out of sorts and left a cavernous hole for Sam Hill to run through for what appeared to be a try, but it was waved off after the TMO had spotted dangerous play by Christian Dyer in the build-up.
More trouble with kicks pushed Miami back to their goal line. The SaberCats were relentless, and Andre Warner went quick from a penalty deep in Sharks territory. There were men to meet him but with a little help from some forwards the scrumhalf was driven over the line and the grounding was good. AJ Alatimu’s conversion attempt rang off the upright and the flags stayed down.
Felipe Etcheverry got the visitors on the board with a penalty goal soon after, but more troubles were on the way. Tomás Inciarte was sent to the bin for a dangerous tackle after a line break by Alatimu. From the resulting lineout Keni Nasoqeqe broke from the maul and crashed over for Houston’s second try, with Alatimu this time adding the extras.
The SaberCats lost Maks van Dyk to injury on the scoring play, with Pono Davis coming on at tighthead prop during the hydration break. When play resumed the Sharks went on the attack. A promising sequence ended with a knock-on, but they were on advantage and Etcheverry landed the resulting penalty from straight in. He would land a third goal from an identical spot just as Inciarte was returning to make it a three-point game.
Penalties continued to plague the SaberCats and Ezekiel Lindenmuth was caught delivering a shoulder charge to a Miami player, landing the loosehead prop a 10-minute spell on the sideline. As he trudged off the pitch Etcheverry lined up another shot at goal and made good on the opportunity, but the even score lasted only a couple minutes as Alatimu landed a three-pointer of his own to leave it 15-12 to the home side at halftime.
That score would hold until just before the hour mark. Warner spotted an overlap on the short side where Sam Hill connected with Louritz van der Schyff. The big center barged through one defender and then freed Jeremy Misailegalu, who in turn fended off Etcheverry on his way to the tryline. Alatimu couldn’t convert but it was now a two-score game.
A 50-22 off the boot of Marcos Young put the SaberCats under pressure immediately following the second hydration break. Sean McNulty was stopped short on a set move from a lineout, and then the Sharks forwards were held up. Miami would get another chance from an attacking throw-in and this time they got the rewards when Ben Bonnaso wrestled over from close range. The kick from Etcheverry closed the gap to just one point.
Miami replaced giant tighthead prop Reinaldo Piussi soon after and at the first scrum the change in power was evident. Houston won the penalty and Alatimu put his team back out in front by four. Another scrum penalty allowed the SaberCats to clear from their end, and a third set the stage for an attacking lineout with time up on the clock. When the drive collapsed the referee awarded a penalty try, giving Houston a bonus point and at the same time denying one for the Sharks.
It’s a short turnaround for Houston who will now put their unbeaten record on the line in a challenging road game against the Seattle Seawolves on Friday night. Miami return to their home base to take on Anthem Carolina on Saturday.
| SCORING |
HOUSTON 30
Tries (4) – A. Warner (14′), K. Nasoqeqe (20′), J. Misailegalu (57′), Penalty try (80’+1′)
Cons (2) – A. Alatimu 1/3 (21′), No kick (80’+1′)
Pens (2) – A. Alatimu 2/2 (39′, 70′)
YC (1) – E. Lindenmuth (35′)
MIAMI 19
Tries (1) – B. Bonasso (64′)
Cons (1) – F. Etcheverry 1/1 (65′)
Pens (4) – F. Etcheverry 4/4 (17′, 25′, 29′, 36′)
YC (1) – T. Inciarte (19′)
| LINEUPS |
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth, 2 Pita Anae-Ah Sue, 3 Maks van Dyk (18 Pono Davis 21′), 4 Johan Momsen, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Ronan Murphy (20 Asa Carter 65′), 7 Keni Nasoqeqe (19 Emmanuel Albert 56′), 8 Gideon van Wyk (17 Frikkie de Beer 37′-45′), 9 Andre Warner, 10 AJ Alatimu, 11 Jeremy Misailegalu, 12 Sam Hill, 13 Louritz van der Schyff, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Line Latu (22 Max Schumacher 72′)
Not used: 16 Seth Smith, 21 Carlo de Nysschen, 23 Dom Akina
MIAMI SHARKS
1 Rob Evans (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 65′), 2 Sean McNulty (16 Alex Glover 79′), 3 Reinaldo Piussi (18 Alec McDonnell 68′), 4 Tomás Casares (20 Chase Schor-Haskin 75′), 5 Michael Etete, 6 Benjamín Bonasso, 7 Roelof Smit (19 Rick Rose 45′), 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomás Cubelli (capt.) (21 Damian Morley 65′), 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Santiago Videla, 12 Nick Grigg, 13 Tomás Inciarte (22 Guiseppe du Toit 61′), 14 Marcos Young, 15 Shane O’Leary (23 Eric Naposki 50′)
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 16
Venue: SaberCats Stadium, Houston
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: cloudy, 70°F (21°C), wind SE 8mph (12km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Lex Weiner (USA)
Assistants: Scott Green (USA) & Jono Cooper (USA)
TMO: Eanna O’Dowd (Ireland)
